DULUTH, Ga. – Woopaa is set to turn 6 years old on March 9, but the reigning YETI World Champion Bull already appears to be stronger, more muscular and ready to be a fierce competitor for the 2022 YETI World Championship.
Woopaa made a resounding statement that he is ready to go this year by scoring 46.5 points Sunday afternoon when he slammed the door shut on Chase Dougherty’s attempt at winning his first premier series event in 3.21 seconds during the championship round of the PBR Gwinnett Invitational.
“Woopaa is going to be a 6-year-old, and that’s like going from a 24-year-old guy to a 27-year-old guy,” stock contractor Laramie Wilson said. “So it’s like, if you think about college football, it is like coming from college to the NFL. They turn into men. They’re kids, they’re boys, they’re men. Woopaa’s a man now. He’s just muscling up more. He looks better, more grown.”
The acrobatic bucking bull made a name for himself last season by producing eight 90-point rides and becoming the bull every rider in the locker room desired to get a crack at. It came as no surprise that Dougherty selected Woopaa with the No. 1 pick in the championship round draft on Sunday.
This weekend, though, Woopaa made life pretty tough for Dougherty, while getting only his second buckoff in his last eight outs dating back to last season.
Wilson did not necessarily think Woopaa needed a buckoff to help his confidence, but he does believe that he needs a rider to showcase his bull if they are going to receive high bull scores consistently.
“I would like to see him win, but at the same time, it seems, if you go back and look at when he threw guys off last year, he wasn’t scored as high as when they rode him,” Wilson said.
In fact, Sunday was Woopaa’s second-best bull score of his career for a buckoff. Woopaa was scored 47.25 points last year in Oklahoma City for a 2.14-second buckoff of Keyshawn Whitehorse.
“It’s kind of a double-edged sword,” Wilson said. “Yes, I want the bull to win and get some confidence, but I’ve got to have guys riding him (longer) to get that higher score. So we need like a happy medium – 60/40. With him being ridden 60%, I wouldn’t be too mad.”
There were five other bulls marked 45 points or higher in Duluth – Blue Duck (45.75 points), Mike’s Magic (45.75 points), Prince Harry (45.5 points), Magic Potion (45.25 points) and I’m Legit Too (45 points).
Woopaa is attempting to become the sixth back-to-back YETI World Champion Bull in PBR history. He is tentatively slated to next buck at the PBR Express Ranches Invitational, presented by Union Home Mortgage, in Oklahoma City.
“Back-to-back’s the goal,” Wilson said. “It’s never easy, but hopefully we can knock it out.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media